Caucasian languages, also called Paleo-Caucasian, or Ibero-Caucasian,
Caucasian languages: distributionEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.group of languages indigenous to Transcaucasia and adjacent areas of the Caucasus region, between the Black and Caspian seas. As used in this article, the term excludes the Indo-European (Armenian, Ossetic, Talysh, Kurdish, Tat) and Turkic languages (Azerbaijani, Kumyk, Noghay, Karachay, Balkar) and some other languages of the area, all of which were introduced to the Caucasus in historical times.

The Caucasian languages are found in the territory north and south of the Greater Caucasus range; their number varies, according to different classifications, from 30 to 40. The concentration of so many languages in such a small territory is indeed remarkable. There are about 8 million speakers of Caucasian languages; their language communities range in size from only a few hundred people to large national groups of millions.

The Caucasian languages fall into three typologically well-defined language families: the Northwest Caucasian, or Abkhazo-Adyghian, languages; the Northeast Caucasian, or Nakho-Dagestanian, languages; and the South Caucasian, or Kartvelian, languages (also called Iberian). From the typological point of view, the Northwest and Northeast Caucasian groups present opposite structural types, with South Caucasian holding an intermediary position.

The exact genetic relationships of the Caucasian languages are still unclear on many points, not only in regard to interrelationships of the three major groups but also to some internal groupings. Although the genetic relationships between Northwest and Northeast Caucasian seem probable, the interrelationships of North and South Caucasian are as yet uncertain because of the absence of any regular sound correspondences between them. At the present stage of comparative Caucasian linguistics, North Caucasian and South Caucasian must be viewed as separate language families.

The theories relating Caucasian with such languages as Basque and the non-Indo-European and non-Semitic languages of the ancient Middle East also lack sufficient evidence and must be considered as inconclusive.

Languages of the group

The Kartvelian (South Caucasian or Iberian) language family comprises Georgian, Mingrelian (Megrelian), Laz (or Chan), and Svan. The speakers of these languages constitute the Georgian nation and numbered 4.2 million in the mid-1990s.

Georgian

Georgian (self-designation: kartuli ena), used as the language of literature and instruction, is the state language of the Republic of Georgia. It is common to all speakers of the Kartvelian languages within Georgia. Beyond the borders of Georgia, Georgian is spoken in the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan and northeastern Turkey. There are also 14 villages of Georgian speakers in the province of Eṣfahān, Iran.

The designation Georgian that is used in the European languages was coined during the Crusades; it is based on Persian gorji (Georgian), from which the Russian gruzin was also derived. The Greek term íbēres (Georgians) is connected with an Old Iranian name for Georgia.

The dialects of Georgian fall into two groups—East and West Georgian—divided by the Suram Mountains. These exhibit only slight differences.

Among the Caucasian languages, only Georgian has an ancient literary tradition, which dates back to the 5th century ad, when the oldest datable monuments were inscribed in an original script. With regard to the order of the alphabet and the shape of some characters, this Old Georgian script is presumed to have been derived from the Greek alphabet. The modern Georgian writing system is based on the round-form cursive, which was developed from the angular book script of the 9th century; the latter was a direct descendant of the Old Georgian script. The Georgian writing system includes a symbol for each of the distinctive sounds (phonemes) of the Georgian language.

During the Old Georgian period (from the 5th to the 11th century), original and translated literary monuments were produced, among them the Georgian translation of the Bible. The conventions of the New Georgian literary language, ultimately established in the mid-19th century on the basis of an East Georgian dialect, originated in the secular literature of the 12th century. New Georgian differs structurally in many respects from Old Georgian, but the old language is still comprehensible to the Georgians of today. Until the beginning of the 19th century, Old Georgian was still in use in religious services and theological writings.

Mingrelian

The Mingrelian language (self-designation: margaluri nina) is spoken in the territory north of the Rioni River and west of the Tskhenis-Tskali River and along the Black Sea coast from the mouth of the Rioni up to the city of Ochamchire. The language is unwritten; Georgian is used as a literary language.

Laz

The Laz language (self-designation: lazuri nena) is spoken along the Black Sea coast from the Chorokh River (Georgia) to south of Pazar (Atina) in Turkish territory. The language is unwritten, Georgian being used as the literary language in Georgia and Turkish in Turkey. In view of the structural closeness between Mingrelian and Laz, they are sometimes considered as dialects of a single language.

Svan

The Svan language (self-designation: lušnu nin), also unwritten, is located south of Mount Elbrus, in the high valleys of the upper Tskhenis-Tskali and its tributary Kheledula and in the valleys of the upper Inguri River. There are four fairly distinct dialects: Upper and Lower Bal in the Inguri region, and Lashkh and Lentekh in the Tskhenis-Tskali region. Georgian and Russian are used as literary languages.

Linguistic characteristics

Correspondences between sounds and meanings in words and word elements provide a basis for considering the Kartvelian languages as being closely related and descended from a common ancestral language (a protolanguage).

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